Getting Started with Visual PKM from scratch using Obsidian-Excalidraw

Getting started with Visual PKM in Obsidian hinges on one practical workflow: build a linked Markdown knowledge base, then embed Excalidraw diagrams inside notes so drawings become navigable, updateable parts of the same system. The setup starts with installing Obsidian, creating a vault (a folder where all your files live), and learning two core behaviors: notes are plain Markdown files, and links between notes are created with double square brackets. When a linked note doesn’t exist yet, clicking the link creates it—turning a simple text editor into a lightweight, Wikipedia-like network of interconnected pages.

A second “magic” step comes from transclusion. By adding an exclamation mark before a double-bracket link, the referenced note’s contents are embedded directly into the current note. That means readers can navigate normally while also seeing embedded sections inline—useful for building living documents, chapter structures, or dashboards that stay synchronized as content changes.

Once the vault and linking basics are in place, the workflow shifts to installing the Excalidraw plugin from Obsidian’s Community Plugins store (the transcript notes there are over 1100 community plugins). After enabling Excalidraw, creating a drawing is straightforward: click the new Excalidraw icon, then use the canvas tools to add shapes, arrows, and text. The interface supports styling controls for selected elements—stroke width, dashed/dotted styles, “sloppiness” (with an “architect” style for sharp lines versus a “cartoonist” style for rougher edges), and corner shapes (sharp versus round). Arrows add extra properties like arrowhead configuration, while text supports standard sizes and a small set of default font families.

The next milestone is embedding drawings into notes. Excalidraw drawings can be inserted via Obsidian’s command palette: search for “Excalidraw” and embed the most recently edited drawing. The transcript emphasizes a key syntax distinction: with the exclamation mark present, the drawing is embedded; without it, it behaves like a link. Width can be adjusted using a pipe character and a number (e.g., 500 or 800). Another embedding method uses “create embed” to open Excalidraw in an adjacent split view so the drawing appears exactly where the cursor is.

Where Excalidraw becomes especially powerful is how it connects to Obsidian’s linking and transclusion system. Drawings can be navigated through links, and Excalidraw settings can control whether links show brackets or use custom prefixes. The transcript also walks through adding images: insert an image from outside the vault, or insert an existing vault file so multiple objects can reference the same underlying asset. Modifier-key behavior matters—control-clicking an embedded image opens it as a separate file, and renaming triggers an “always update” option so links remain intact.

Finally, the workflow extends beyond basic diagrams through an “Obsidian tools panel,” including a Scripts Library. Installing a script like “Text Arch” demonstrates how selected text elements can be transformed into curved/arched typography with parameters such as radius and whether the text sits above or below the arc. The overall payoff: Excalidraw diagrams are stored as files inside the vault, remain private and durable, and can be embedded, updated, decomposed, and recomposed alongside the rest of a connected Obsidian knowledge system.